Teacher of the Week: Mrs. Flynn of Guilford High School

It's tough teaching high school, at least that's what many local teachers tell us, but one in particular says she gets through to them by 'doing,' not just 'saying.'

Amanda Flynn teaches 10th and 11th grade english at Guilford High School.

"I think that I do by best to teach the kids that it's okay to be a little bit nerdy and it's okay to be a reader, and it's okay to do those things outside of athletics and outside of academics," Flynn says. "It just makes me happy that they remember me and that they know that I'm here to help, and not just when I'm their teacher, that they can come here afterwards if they need help with anything. It's just, it's really heartwarming."

She says high school can be tough for these kids, so she tries to be a role model herself in her everyday life.

"You have to be a teacher all the time, and I think that people don't realize, sometimes when I'm outside of school, that I still have to have my teacher hat on, and I still have to be a responsible adult, and I think that that's all I can do, is just try to give them advice that I would follow," she says.

She might do that by giving them an example of a mistake that she learned from, but she says ultimately, it comes down to communication.

"When students act out in class, I think that's when they see it," she says. "If a student gets mad at me or is getting verbally aggressive for whatever reason, I just say, 'Hey, the issue is that you're putting your head on your desk, or the issue is that you don't have the supplies you need for class, it has nothing to do with anything else.' I think that that's really important, is making sure that your communication is clear."